Presently, the glass making industry produces a wide range of glass articles. Glass, as a variety of an amorphous state of the substance produced from the melts of natural minerals and synthetic substances, has unique properties and application of materials other than glass in some technologies is impossible. Glass is a special system comprising different oxides of metals of Me.sub.2 O, MeO, Me.sub.2 O.sub.3, MeO.sub.2, Me.sub.2 O.sub.5, and MeO.sub.3 type (where Me represents a "metal"). In place of oxygen, there can be fluorine, chlorine, or elements which have similar physicochemical properties. The traditional pattern of glass production is realized by sequentially conducting a finite series of physicochemical processes: EQU T.sup.1, T.sup.2, . . . , T.sup.n-m, . . . , T.sup.n-1, T.sup.n(1)
where:
n and m are integers; PA1 1.ltoreq.m&lt;n. PA1 a) preparation of a glass-forming starting mixture from natural and/or synthetic substances; PA1 b) heating of the starting mixture to a temperature required for a complete transition of the components of the mix into a melt with the formation of a new substance; PA1 c) cooling of a thus-obtained substance which is in the state of a melt to a temperature necessary for the shaping of the articles; and PA1 d) thermal or other treatment of the articles aimed at obtaining desired physicochemical properties; PA1 n and m are integers; PA1 1.ltoreq.m&lt;n; PA1 1.ltoreq.k&lt;m. PA1 A--unchangeable (principal part); PA1 B--changeable part; PA1 C--structural compound. PA1 chemical elements entering into the composition of the starting chemical compounds and which have a valence of 3 and higher and the cations of which have a high charge (e.g., P.sup.5+, V.sup.5+, Si.sup.4+, Ti.sup.4+, Zr.sup.4+, Ge.sup.4+, B.sup.3+, Al.sup.3+, Fe.sup.3+, and those crystallochemically similar to them) or which have a valence equal to 2 and the cations of which have a charge equal to 2 (e.g., Fe.sup.2+, Co.sup.2+, Ni.sup.2+, Pb.sup.2+, Cd.sup.2+, Zn.sup.2+, Be.sup.2+, and those crystallochemically similar to them), and PA1 which form, in combination with the elements in Groups VI-VII of the periodic table e.g., with oxygen), stable coordination polyhedrons of the type [MeO.sub.n ]; PA1 a) chemical elements entering into the composition of the starting chemical compounds and which have a valence of 1 and the cations of which have a charge of unity (e.g., Li.sup.+, Na.sup.+, K.sup.+, and those similar to them in their physical and chemical properties) or those chemical elements which have a valence equal to 2 and the cations of which that have a charge equal to 2 (e.g., Ca.sup.2+, Sr.sup.+, Mg.sup.+ and those cations similar to them in their physical and chemical properties); and PA1 b) chemical elements entering into the composition of the starting chemical compounds which have a valence equal to 2 and the cations of which that have a charge equal to 2 (e.g., Pb.sup.2+, Cd.sup.2+, Zn.sup.2+, Be.sup.2+, and those cations similar to them in their physical and chemical properties), in the case where they do not form, in combination with the elements of Groups VI and VII of the periodic table (for example, oxygen), stable coordination polyhedrons of the [MeO.sub.n ] type; PA1 a) Part A is either, on the whole, a monostructure which is three-dimensional and practically continuous within the confines of a real body and which is characterized by a negative charge and can be geometrically visualized in the form of a lattice, or consists of individual macroparts having a negative charge, or consists of macroparts bonded between themselves in either one or in two or in three directions into a monostructure having a negative charge (the term "practically" means that in the lattice there are spaces not occupied by lattice-forming atoms), and PA1 b) Part B, active and mobile relative to Part A, consists of randomly distributed ions of metals in Part A that, traveling under the action of a thermal field, establish groups or associations and each ion (having a positive charge) has a separate ionic bond with Part A. PA1 are implemented in a melt under the action of: PA1 (a) a thermal field which causes thermal diffusion of positively charged mobile Part B in the bulk of the melt and, also, leads to an intermediate state of Part A which state is a consequence of the breakage and formation of the chemical bonds, and differs from the initial state of Part A by the presence of a negative charge carrier, which at the moment of formation of the intermediate state of Part A has electrons which can have, just as the excess electrons, together with which Part A is characterized by a negative charge can have, an energy greater than the energy of other electrons which belong to the chemical elements of Part A, and PA1 (b) electric and electrostatic fields, or their combination, which prescribe a direction of the charge carriers' movement in the process of thermal diffusion, and lead to their orientation and/or displacement and to the detachment of electrons with a larger energy from the negative charge carriers of the intermediate state of Part A of the melt, and, also, lead together with the action of the thermal field, to a change of the concentration of the active mobile Part B in the melt, its removal from the melt, or its partial removal with or without formation of surplus positive charge in the remaining part of the melt, PA1 Me.sup.q are the chemical elements identified in Item 1.2; PA1 V.sup.k are chemical elements in Groups VI--VII of the periodic table, in particular, oxygen. PA1 Me.sup.p are the chemical elements identified in Item 1.3. PA1 one phase is modified Part A of Structural Compound C which can have a surplus positive space charge; and PA1 another phase is modified Part B of Structural Compound C. PA1 rMe.sup.p.sub.f is the modified Part B of structural compound C and at the same time the neutralized cations identified in Item 1.3; PA1 (S-r)Me.sup.P.sub.f Me.sup.q.sub.m V.sup.k.sub.n is the modified structural compound C after the removal of the mobile cations in the amount of SMe.sup.p.sub.f -rMe.sup.p.sub.f and is identified in items 1.2 and 1.3 in the form of monomolecular compounds which may have a surplus positive space charge; PA1 i, j, f, m, n are integers; and PA1 r, S&gt;0 are real numbers.
The enlarged classification of these processes can be represented in the form of the following technological operations:
A finite series of physicochemical processes EQU T.sup.1, T.sup.2, . . . , T.sup.n-m (2)
by the action of force fields (mechanical, thermal, electrical, and those fields similar in their action) when completed, result in the obtaining of a substance which is a structural compound in the state of a melt which exhibits the properties of an electrolyte, regardless of whether the starting substances exhibited the properties of an electrolyte.
In the obtained substance two constituent parts can be distinguished. One of these parts is a relatively immobile part and is, on the whole, a monostructure which is three-dimensional and practically continuous within the confines of a real body in the form of a lattice (geometric representation), which is characterized by a negative charge (the term "practically" means that in the lattice there are spaces not occupied by lattice-forming atoms). The other part of the structural compound is an active and mobile part relative to the first part and consists of randomly distributed ions of metals that, traveling under the action of a thermal field, establish groups or associations and each ion (having a positive charge) has a separate ionic bond with the relatively immobile part.
A finite series of physicochemical processes EQU T.sup.n-m, . . . , T.sup.n-1, T.sup.n (3)
terminate by obtaining the material called glass having physicochemical properties defined by the state and chemical composition of the melt at the moment of its solidification.
As in a melt, two constituent parts in the glass can be discerned. The lattice of the glass, as a whole, is practically a single-whole three-dimensional structure in which there are cations mobile only in the volume occupied by a group of cations, and in the case when the temperature is sufficiently high, the cations move from one group into another without disrupting the continuity of the lattice of the glass. The chemical elements, which are represented by mobile cations, do not form structural groups with oxygen (fluorine, chlorine, and those elements similar to their physiochemical properties).
The lattice is the basis of the glass and defines its properties. A glass consisting of only chemical elements forming the lattice (one-component systems, e.g., quartz glass) has the most desirable and best glass properties from the standpoint of temperature resistance and structural strength. Groups of cations, when they exist in the lattice (multi-component systems, e.g., silicate glasses), only diminish the properties of glass and normally are introduced into the glass composition in order to obtain technical characteristics of the glass acceptable to the user at the lowest production cost. The advantages of one-component glass are generally known. Technical characteristics of one-component glass permit a reduction in the weight of the end product and permit the use of glass articles in difficult operating conditions. Only the high price of articles made of one-component glass hinders its wide application.
Among the one-component systems, quartz glass has the properties required for a wide variety of applications. This hard material is characterized by a whole set of important performance properties, such as: high strength, hardness, wear resistance, thermal endurance, stability to attack of corrosive media, and excellent optical properties.
Presently, industrial quartz glass with corresponding high technical characteristics is manufactured by only a few methods: electrothermal, gas-flame, plasma, and steam-phase. These methods of manufacturing such glass, however, are labor intensive and expensive because they require high melting temperature (1550.degree. C. or higher) of the starting mix and a lengthy process of heat treatment.
The most rational and economic way of solving this problem is to produce a multi-component system characterized by low melting temperatures of the starting mix and then to remove the mobile part therefrom. Vicor.RTM. brand and Pyrex.RTM. brand quartz glasses find the widest application in industry today. These glasses have characteristics comparable to those of quartz glass at lower production costs.
The specific chemical composition of the starting mix used for production of Vicor.RTM. glass does not require heating to high temperatures to establish the starting melt. A special method of removing the active mobile part from the melt is employed in the production of this glass. Two phases with interpenetrating weakly bonded structures are formed in the process as the melt is supercooled. One of the phases is removed by acid. The balance is a brittle, cellular, one-phase vitreous material with 96% content of silicon oxide. At the end of the technological cycle, the material is subjected to thermal treatment at a temperature where the material passes into a flowable state, thus forming a non-porous transparent glass comparable in its properties with quartz glass.
Pyrex.RTM. glass also is produced from a starting mix of a specific chemical composition having a low melting temperature, but with one of its phases represented as drops of liquid which are removed chemically with great difficulty. Since such a drop is isolated by the other phase/lattice and has practically no structural bond with it, the mechanical strength and other properties of such glass are defined by the properties of the phase/lattice which consists mainly of silicon dioxide.
The methods of manufacturing one-component glasses by use of traditional manufacturing techniques are applicable if the starting mix has a specific chemical composition. Such methods are labor intensive and/or costly due either to their high melting temperature (e.g., production of quartz glass), or because of the increased number and complexity of technological operations (e.g., production of Vicor.RTM. glass). It is evident that the method of removing the active mobile part of the glass directly from a multi-component low-temperature melt making use of the fact that the melt has the properties of an electrolyte will have the greatest effect. In such a process, there is the possibility of producing a glass/lattice in the form of material possessing improved technical characteristics compared to glass obtained by ordinary methods from the starting multi-component mix. It, also, is evident that such a method is applicable to the multi-component melt of the starting mix of practically any glass-forming chemical composition in which two constituent parts are present.